


little wonders

by blackwidcv



Category: Poldark (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Modern AU, Notting Hill AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackwidcv/pseuds/blackwidcv
Summary: the life of a simple bookshop owner changes when he meets britian's most eligible it-girl.a dwight/caroline notting hill (1999) AU.
Relationships: Dwight Enys/Caroline Penvenen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	little wonders

People who said Notting Hill wasn't the best part of London, were always sorely mistaken. Not only was the vibrance of the multi-coloured houses or the diversity of its inhabitants so enchanting, it was also the multitude of the most random shops one could find there. From the more basic options like H&M or The Body Shop to a Rated R art gallery or a café that only played Cher.

Certainly falling into the latter category was also The Truro Travel Bookshop, to which its owner, and quite possibly the only person who gave a shit about it, Dwight Enys was currently headed to.

Like its name suggested, the shop only sold traveling books. Which as one could imagine, wasn't the most profitable endeavour in the year 2019 with Google Maps being its biggest rival.

As Dwight stepped over the threshold of his bookshop that day, he realised it was the 31st which meant monthly wrap-up. Or more likely, »how much more in debt are we this month?« Unbeknownst to him, this would be the day that would change his life.

“Morning!” Rosina, his only employee, greets him. He had found her quite randomly, when his friend Demelza's brother suggested her, saying that she's looking for a job and would be perfect for it. He was lucky to have her since her being a geography student at university actually made her know more about the world or traveling than he ever would. Oftentimes, it was solely her enthusiasm about a certain place or country that made a customer decide to purchase a book. Still, the income was sparse and he felt extreme guilt every time he had to hand her her paycheck.

“Hello.” he replies and immediately fishes out his laptop. There was no use in delaying that process so he best get right to it.

He looks everything over, calculates and frustratedly shakes his head in silence whilst Rosina unpacks a new load of a new travel guide to Istanbul, which the author kept sending more copies of. In the time, some teenaged girl walks in but she walks around the shop whilst scrolling through her phone so neither of them pay her any attention.

Dwight finishes and can't help but sigh to which Rosina perks up, “And? What's the verdict?”

“I'd rather not say. Every penny is a penny too many.” and looks at her, apologetically.

“I'm sorry.” she says walking to the counter with a kind smile on her face.

“No, I should be the one to apologise, you do such good work and I never manage to-“ but halts because she's put up her hand to stop him.

“On that note... there's something I should say.”

In that instant, he thinks she's going to quit and he hates himself for hating her for it. It’s incredibly selfish and she deserves so much more than what his shop has to offer, and if she does in fact quit this job to pursue a better one, he should be happy for her.

“I've found another job. At that Irish pub around the corner, they needed a new bartender. Do you mind if I do that as well?”

Quite selfishly, Dwight is relieved and it shows on his face: “Well of course, why would I tell you not to?”

“Oh it's not that, I just wanted to let you know.” she shrugs. “So you feel less guilty, perhaps.”

He smiles. She was right, this would and did drop a massive load off his conscience.

“Should I go and get us some coffee? Even though we can't afford it?” she offers.

Despite everything he laughs dryly, “Yes, that'd be lovely.”

Not a second after Rosina leaves, somebody new walks in and it, she, makes Dwight do a double-take. He doesn't get a good enough glimpse because she instantly hides behind a shelf and is wearing large black sunglasses and a bakers boy hat. But still, he knows that she is not what you'd call a Truro Travel Bookshop's typical customer. Which is perhaps what makes him speak up.

“Can I help you with anything?”

Her head pops out from behind the shelf. “No, thank you. Just browsing.”

He nods with a small smile and goes back to his work. After a while she turns around the shelf and shows herself properly. The first thing he noticed was the big Versace shopping bag slung around her shoulder and a YSL bag in her hand. If he had to take a guess, her coat was probably Burberry.

She picks up a book and something inside him makes him speak up again. It was probably the fact that his monthly wrap-up made him desperate for income and she looked like somebody who could contribute.

“That one's quite rubbish.”

She looks up but doesn't say anything, making it hard to gauge her reaction. And so he continues, “If you're interested in Austria however-“ leans down to pick a book from under his desk, “-this one just came in and it's actually useful. Even funny at times, there's a story about a very strange Mozart impersonator...”

The woman was still just silently looking at him, not revealing anything. And yet, Dwight continues.

“We also have a collection of-“ and then stills, as his gaze lands on the monitor showing him the shop's security camera footage. The teenage girl with the phone from earlier was in the process of putting a book into her bag.

He turns to his other customer, “Excuse me,” and goes to the girl.

“Hello.” he says and she turns to him, with an air of disinterest as she chews on a gum. “Yeah?”

"I know this place doesn't look it but we do have security cameras here."

She just shrugs at him as if to say 'so?' and Dwight knows that he has to be direct. He doesn't know why he didn't try to be so in the first place.

“I suggest you better put that book you've just nicked back onto the shelf where it belongs.”

“I don't have a book in my bag.”

He smiles at that, raising his eyebrow. And she realises, rolling her eyes, whether at herself or him he wasn't sure.

“Either put it back or pay for it. The counter's over there.” he gestures with his head and then leaves her to decide for himself.

His other customer had been paying attention to this conversation but with no less interest or emotion to her demeanour.

“Sorry for that.” Dwight smiles and goes back to his counter.

She steps forward, “I'll be taking this anyway.” and hands him the book he'd unnecessarily insulted earlier.

He scans it and prepares a bag. “Well on second thought, it's maybe not so bad anyway. Less amusing stories and more straight to the point. More photographs.”

Dwight takes her money and opens the till to return the change when the shoplifter shows herself and gasps loudly. He's puzzled for a brief second and then notices she's looking straight at the woman, her mouth wide open.

She composes herself, very quickly though and is by her side instantly: “Oh my god, I am such a huge fan.”

The lady, once again, does not show any emotion of any kind and simply thanks her for that but the girl continues.

“I really loved your new fragrance and your lipstick line. I'm actually somewhat of a fashion guru myself, I have a YouTube channel where I do makeup tutorials-" and then fishes out a scrunched up receipt from her bag, "-will you sign this for me?”

“Of course.” the woman replies and then looks at Dwight, making a motion with her hand which he understands as her wanting to have a pencil. He hands her one and watches as she signs it, with her delicate and perfectly manicured hand.

“Thank you!” the girl says excitedly and takes the receipt. “What does it say?”

“Well...it's my signature and under it, 'PS I think you need to learn how to behave.”

If the girl is offended by this she doesn't show, Dwight however stifles a laugh.

“Can I get a selfie?” the girl continues and is already prepared with the phone in hand. The lady doesn't say yes or nod, just moves her head towards her and lets her take a few, her expression ever so distant.

When the girl finally lowers her hand, she turns back to her, enthusiastic smile: “Do you want me to give you my Instagram username?”.

“...No.”

And with that, the woman turns away and somehow even the girl understands that this conversation was over.

“Okay. Great meeting you!” and leaves the shop, her fingers already euphorically swiping over her phone's keyboard.

Dwight remains unmoving for a second before snapping out of it. He smiles at the woman kindly and he swears he can see the corner of her lips move up for just a fraction.

“There you go.” he says as he returns the change and then hands her the bag. And then quickly goes, “Tell you what, I'll throw one of those for free- “ holding up another book, “since you'll be in Austria, Slovenia is nearby and also nice popping down to quickly. Hidden gem.”

“Oh. Thank you.” she says, taking her bag and then leaves for the door. “Goodbye.” she greets with one last glance back and then leaves the shop.

Dwight himself is left completely bewildered. He knew from the get go that this woman was very rich and prominent but he never for one second considered she might be famous. He had no idea who she was and for some reason was desperate to know, if only to brag about a celebrity visit to his friends.

A couple of minutes after this, Rosina walks back in with the lattes in tow. She was closer in age to the teenage girl than she was to Dwight so he guessed that she would know.

“I think... someone famous was just in our shop.”

“Someone famous?!” Rosina's eyes widen as she hands him his latte. “Was it Timothée Chalamet?”

“No.” he laughs, he would've recognised him. He may be out of loop on numerous things but he wasn't _that_ out of the loop.

“It was a woman. Blonde, slim...”

“Well that narrows it down enormously.” Rosina chuckles. “Do you know whether she was an actress or singer or...”

“No, I don't. There girl with the phone from earlier recognised her and blabbered something to her about a perfume and a lipstick collection.”

“Oh!” Rosina fishes out her phone from her jacket and scrolls for a few seconds, then turns around her phone to him, “Was it her?”

She shows him an Instagram profile and it's the exact same woman from a few minutes ago. He barely has time to register her username or her photographs before he nods and Rosina turns her phone back to herself with an excited squeal.

“Oh my god, that's Caroline Penvenen! I can't believe Caroline Penvenen was in this shop!” she stays silent for a bit, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. “Did she buy anything?”

“Yes, she-“

“Oh wow, why was I not here? I love her, she's so brilliant and gorgeous and yes her new lipstick line is to die for but also very expensive...” Rosina sighs as she scrolls on her page a bit more. In that moment Dwight swears to himself he'll get her one of these lipsticks for Christmas, if it's the last thing he does.

And so the day resumes and as per usual they have so many customers you can count them on one hand. Dwight closes the shop at precisely seven pm and with a desolate sigh walks back to his house, which was only a three minute walk away. Five, if you daydreamed.

To nobody's surprise, his flatmate Ross was nowhere to be found when Dwight entered their place. Ross was a political science student at university, currently writing his master's degree which was a loosely applied statement. He spent only one, maybe two percent of his free time writing and doing research, the rest was spent at either parties, political rallies and funnily enough, pub quizzes.

Dwight loved him dearly, they had been best friends since childhood but he had lost the one or the other nerve when trying to persuade him to do his work, his chores or to just calm down and not stick his nose where it didn't belong (which he did. Very often and to various degrees of success.)

He sets the kettle up and makes himself a simple dinner, heating up ramen in a plastic pot. As much as he hated it and hated the fact that he had neither the funds nor the will to make himself something proper he couldn't help but enjoy that ramen every time. He wondered how much longer this would last.

After his tea and ramen are ready, he sits down at their table. He has to clean up Ross' dirty plates from it first, cursing him softly.

He's too lazy to get up and get his book to read which is why he fishes out his phone instead and scrolls through the news. When his eyes land on the showbiz section of the paper, he remembers their unusual customer from the morning with her serene demeanour that wasn't necessarily unkind but definitely not welcoming.

Even though Rosina showed him her Instagram profile it had been brief and so he opens the app. He remembers that her name was Caroline but not much else which he didn't need because her profile was instantly in the top search result.

_@carolinepenvenen 728 posts 2.6m followers 230 following_

_bio: mother of @horacethepug_

His eyes widen at the follower count. To be honest, he didn't know what he expected.

He scrolls down her profile. They were mostly pictures of herself wearing highly expensive outfits, sometimes at an event, sometimes a closet mirror selfie. The occasional landscape of a city, pictures of food and wine and one or two selfies with her pug.

He had to admit, she was beautiful. He could even see that when she had been standing in front of him, wearing the beret and large black sunglasses. As he stared down at a selfie of her for a good minute, it only confirmed it.

He's not on Instagram a lot (he only had it because Ross made one for him and he just didn’t delete it yet) but presses follow anyway. Now that she was his bookshop's first celebrity customer, he felt like it was an obligation to keep up with her. Perhaps she'd come back one day and he could strike a more meaningful conversation.

What he noticed though is that she didn’t smile on any of her pictures. It was either a serious look and if it was something resembling a smile, it was more of a smirk than anything else. He didn’t know why it affected him the way it did, but he couldn’t deny that there was something absolutely mesmerizing about her that made him not take his eyes off any of the photos.

Despite scrolling through her numerous photos he still wasn't quite sure what _exactly_ it was that she did so he opens Google and types her name into the search bar. The top result was the online store for her lipstick line which he glosses over and then opens the second result, her Wikipedia.

_Caroline Lucinda Hastings-Penvenen (born 19 th of November 1992), known professionally as Caroline Penvenen, is an English model and entrepreneur most famously known for her beauty line, collaboration with Karl Lagerfeld and Instagram page. She has been named one of Britain's most eligible women and one of its most famous »it-girls«, second perhaps only to Alexa Chung._

Dwight frowns a bit at his and reads on. She was of aristocratic descent, apparently 52nd in line for the throne, and was scouted by Naomi Campbell at the age of 14. She attended lots of fancy schools until deciding to get a degree in Fine Art from Oxford but eventually dropped out to pursue her modelling career more seriously.

He reads through the rest of her Wikipedia for a few moments longer before closing his browser and locking his phone, trying to put her out of his mind and continue with the rest of his evening. However, a piece of him still hopes he’ll see her again, even if he doesn’t believe it.

**

The next morning is once again uneventful in every sense of the word. By noon they've only had four customers of which only one actually bought a book. Dwight is distressed and Rosina obviously notices which is why she leans over his counter.

“Go get us some coffee. Stretch out your legs for a bit, I can hold the fort.”

He was so grateful to have her.

“You know what?” he says, wiping his stress away momentarily with a smile and stands up. “Let's go all out, I'll get us some smoothies. And a muffin.”

As he steps out into the lovely London sun he makes a very uncharacteristically dramatic exhale and does as promised, popping by the closest Pret. He almost scowls at the smoothie prices but he had promised and god knows they needed a pick-me-up.

He balances the two smoothies in a holder in one hand, the chocolate berry muffins in a bag in the other. He has to smile at how vibrant and joyful the street already was at one pm, vendors selling their vegetables at the green market and a group of children, with their criminally overweight schoolbags, crossing the street happily.

One could argue that he was too distracted with the general splendour when he rounds a corner and slams so hard into somebody, it almost knocks both parties out. Naturally, all of his two , one very green and the other very pink, smoothies fall right into the other person's lap which makes both of them gasp out loud.

“Fuck-“

“Oh my- Shit, I am so sorry.” Dwight's voice is shaky from shock as he fishes out some napkins from his paper bag. When his head lifts up to look at his victim it takes him every ounce of his being to not gasp again.

He must however gape at her unmoving for a moment because Caroline Penvenen stares back at him too and then snatches the napkins out of his hand.

When she starts dabbing at her chest, Dwight snaps out of his daze and notices he had ruined not only her white silk shirt but also quite a bit of her £2000 Burberry trench coat and he wishes the earth could swallow him up whole right about now. If she was going to demand he buy her another one, he could file for bankruptcy in this instant.

However, he can't just stand there silently while she fumes and wipes and so he utters the first thing that comes to his mind: “I could take you home with me.”

Caroline naturally stops at this and looks up with an expression so annoyed, Dwight's guts drop onto the ground. She opens her mouth to say something but he, thank god, beats her to it.

“That's not- I live just down the street.” points at it but isn't sure that Caroline acknowledges it, “I have water and soap, you can get cleaned up.”

“No, I don't-“ she shakes her head and with surprising accuracy throws the dirty napkins back into his paper bag, “- I was just waiting for someone.”

With that she makes a turn around him and looks around the street as if searching for someone. Dwight just watches her, heart hammering loudly in his chest. That's when he notices, that she was holding a leash with her pug on it and if the situation wasn't so outright awful he would've smiled.

“How far is down the street exactly?” she turns to him unexpectedly and Dwight perks up.

“Just there-“ he points again, Caroline's eyes following him this time, “-that house with the blue door.”

She actually looks like she contemplates it for a split second and Dwight swallows nervously. As if she wasn’t angry with him enough he, a complete stranger, was now also offering her to come into his flat.

“Alright.” she sighs frustratedly and despite everything Dwight nods and smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> i am not a very consistent writer because life gets in the way and i quite often struggle with writer's block. all comments, reviews etc. are however highly appreciated. hope you enjoy x!


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